Military History Section Staff Biographies
Ashley Ekins
Ashley Ekins
is Head of the Military History Section. He is a graduate of the University of Adelaide and has worked as a military historian with the
Australian War Memorial since 1989, specialising in the history of the First World War and the Vietnam War.
Ashley has published widely on the role of Australian soldiers in the First World War and he is completing a comprehensive study of military discipline and punishment in the First AIF. He has also engaged in a specialist study of the Gallipoli campaign. He has visited Gallipoli on twenty separate occasions and has explored the battlefields extensively with Turkish, Australian and British historians. Since 1996, he has led the Memorial’s thirteen annual battlefield tours to Gallipoli as tour leader and historical guide. He has twice accompanied a government-appointed review team to Gallipoli as historical adviser and consultant. Ashley is frequently consulted for historical advice on Australian involvement in the First World War, the Vietnam War and other conflicts. He has contributed to six major documentary films and his assistance and advice are widely acknowledged in a substantial number of scholarly and popular publications.
Ashley is also an authority on Australian military involvement in the Vietnam War. As an author of The Official History of Australia’s Involvement in Southeast Asian Conflicts 1948-1975, he has written extensively on Australian ground operations in Vietnam. He co-authored, with the late Dr Ian McNeill, volume eight in the series, On the Offensive: The Australian Army in the Vietnam War, 1967-1968, published in 2003. His sequel volume (and the final volume in the series), Fighting to the Finish, covering Australian Army ground operations in Vietnam from 1968 to 1973, will be published in 2009.
Books published
Ian McNeill and Ashley Ekins, On the Offensive: The Australian Army in the Vietnam War, January 1967-June 1968 (Allen & Unwin in association with the Australian War Memorial, Sydney, 2003). This is volume eight of The Official History of Australia’s Involvement in Southeast Asian Conflicts 1948–1975.
Ashley Ekins and Ian McNeill, Fighting to the Finish: The Australian Army in the Vietnam War 1968–1972 (Allen & Unwin in association with the Australian War Memorial, forthcoming 2009), the ninth and final volume of The Official History of Australian Involvement in Southeast Asian Conflicts 1948-1975.
A Guide to the Battlefields, Cemeteries and Memorials of the Gallipoli Peninsula, Australian War Memorial, Canberra, 1998 (revised edition, 2000, third revised edition 2002, fourth revised edition 2008)
Chapters in other books
"A ridge too far: military objectives and the dominance of terrain in the Gallipoli campaign", in Kenan Çelik and Cehan Koç (eds), The Gallipoli Campaign: International Perspectives 85 Years On, Atatürk and Gallipoli Campaign Research Center, Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Çanakkale, Turkey, 2002, pp. 5–34
"Australians at the End of the Great War", chapter 9 in Hugh Cecil and Peter H. Liddle (eds), At the Eleventh Hour: Reflections, Hopes and Anxieties at the Closing of the Great War, 1918 (Leo Cooper, London, 1998), pp. 157–80
"The Australians at Passchendaele", chapter 15 in Peter Liddle (ed.), Passchendaele in Perspective: The Third Battle of Ypres (Leo Cooper, London, 1997), pp. 227–54
Articles and papers published
"The Battle of Operation Bribie", Canberra Sunday Times, 18 February 2007, Sunday Focus, p. 22
"Ghosts of Vietnam", in Forum, pp. B1-2, Canberra Times, 19 August 2006
"VC ambush plan backfires", in Vietnam 40 Years On, p. 4, special supplement in the Canberra Times, 18 August 2006
"Against all odds", The Bulletin, 26 April 2005, pp. 22-30
"Exploding the myths of Gallipoli", The Bulletin, 27 April 2004, pp. 30–33
"The Unknown Australian Soldier", Wartime, no. 25, 2004, pp. 10–13
"Attack from within: A ‘fragging’ incident at Fire Support Base Bravo...what did happen?", Wartime, no. 24, 2003, pp. 21–25
“The life and trials of the 106th Battery”, Canberra Times, 13 September, Forum, p. B6
"Killing ground", The Bulletin, 16 September 2003, pp. 46–49
"One step from death", History page, Daily Telegraph, 18 August 2003, p. 55
"Minefield of misery", Herald Sun, 16 August 2003, p. 23
"Luck, valour, victory", Weekend Australian, 16–17 August, 2003, pp. 28–29
"No known grave", Wartime, no. 23, 2003, pp. 14–18
"Death in the minefield", Wartime, no. 22, 2003, pp. 24–29
"Death due to friendly fire: The life and death of WO Jack Kirby", Wartime, no. 21, 2003, pp. 36–39
"Lessons of a lost war", The Bulletin (cover story), 8 October 2002, pp. 20–23
"Without question, a hero", Wartime, no. 18, 2002, pp. 20–23
"Our dashing hero", Sunday Age [Melbourne], 6 January 2002, p. 17
"The Turkish hero of the Dardanelles", Wartime, no. 9, 2000, pp. 56-8
"One Australian’s grave on Gallipoli", Wartime, no. 8, 1999, p. 45
"A Private War", The Age [Melbourne], Saturday 14 November 1998
"The end of the Great War: Australian soldiers and the armistice of November 1918", Wartime, no. 4, 1998, pp. 8-13
"Farewell to arms", Daily Telegraph [Sydney], 11 November 1998
"Australia celebrates", The Age [Melbourne] Special Feature Supplement to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the Great War, 10 November 1998
"Slaughter in France", Daily Telegraph, 4 July 1998
"Gallipoli: lest we forget", Sunday Telegraph, 4 January 1998, pp. 122–23
"Date with destiny", Daily Telegraph, November 13, 1997, p. 78
"Byways to hell: Australian soldiers in the battle of Passchendaele, 1917", Wartime, no. 1, 1997, pp. 7–13
"‘Not one scintilla of evidence’? The media, the military and the government in the Vietnam water torture case”, Australian Journal of Politics and History, vol. 42, no. 3, 1996, pp. 345–64
"The Unknown Australian Soldier: memory and meaning", La Grande Guerre: Pays, Histoire, Mémoire. Bulletin du Centre de recherche, Historial de la Grande Guerre, no. 7, June 1994, pp. 3–5
Public talks and academic conference papers delivered
Interview on the history and significance of the Gallipoli campaign, ABC television live broadcast, Interpretive Program, Anzac Day Dawn Service, Anzac Commemorative Site, Gallipoli, 25 April 2008
"Why did the US lose in Vietnam?", paper delivered to Strategic Studies course at the Australian Command and Staff College, Weston Creek, 26 March 2008
"Official History in Conflict: Writing the soldiers’ war", paper delivered to the Australian Government Summer School for Teachers of Australian History, Australian National University, Canberra, 22 January 2008
"The Australians at Passchendaele, 1917", research paper delivered at international conference, Dead Reckoning: Passchendaele 1917, convened at the In Flanders Fields Museum, Ypres, 16 November 2007
"On Writing Official History", Anniversary Oration, Telstra Theatre, Australian War Memorial, 9 November 2007
Presentation, "Operation Bribie: a pivotal battle", delivered to 40th anniversary reunion of Vietnam Veterans of 6RAR and A Squadron 3 Cavalry Regiment, Bribie Island RSL Club, Queensland, 17 February 2007
Presentation, "'I order you to die': Atatürk as military commander on Gallipoli, 1915", delivered at conference on the occasion of the 125th birthday of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, Turkish Embassy, Canberra, 8 December 2006
Commemorative closing address, "The meaning of Remembrance Day", Australian War Memorial commemorative area, 11 November 2006
"The battle of Long Tan: winners and losers, 40 years on", public presentation, Telstra Theatre, Australian War Memorial, 18 August 2006
Talk on the history of the Gallipoli campaign and guided gallery tour delivered to visiting ‘Kookaburras’ men’s national hockey team, Australian War Memorial galleries, 11 August 2006
Interview on the battle of Long Tan for feature story, "The forgotten heroes", broadcast Sixty Minutes, Channel Nine, 13 August 2006
"Revisiting the battle of Long Tan", presentation delivered to Australian War Memorial Voluntary Guides, Telstra Theatre, Australian War Memorial, 2 August 2006
The Battle of Long Tan, talk delivered to North Melbourne ‘Kangaroos’ Football Club, Vietnam gallery, Australian War Memorial, 30 July 2005
"Five myths of the ANZAC landing", presentation delivered to Families and Friends of the First AIF conference, Telstra Theatre, Australian War Memorial, 21 February 2004
"Dilemmas of a long war: The Australian Army in Vietnam", talk delivered at Speaker’s Luncheon, The Commonwealth Club, Thursday 21 August 2003
"Lessons from a long war: writing the official history of the Australian Army in the Vietnam War", public lecture, Telstra Theatre, Australian War Memorial, Saturday 5 October 2002
"The assault on Lone Pine, 6 August 1915: feint or folly?", paper delivered at symposium Gallipoli: the August offensive, Telstra Theatre, Australian War Memorial, 5 August 2000
"A ridge too far: military objectives and the dominance of terrain in the Gallipoli campaign", paper delivered at international conference The Gallipoli Campaign: International Perspectives, 2000, convened by Onsekiz Mart University, Çanakkale, Turkey, 24 April 2000
"Master of the battlefield: the dominance of terrain in the Gallipoli campaign, 1915", paper delivered at international conference Terrain in Military History, convened by the University of Greenwich, London, 6 January 2000
"‘A new basis for discipline’? Military crime and punishment among Australian soldiers on the Somme, 1916", paper presented at the Colloque International (International History Conference) convened by the Historial de la Grande Guerre in Péronne, France, 1–4 July 1996, on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the battle of the Somme
"Larrikins, criminals or victims? Australian soldiers and military discipline in the First World War", paper presented before the Canberra & District Historical Society, Canberra, Tuesday 14 April 1992
"‘Not one scintilla of evidence’? The water torture case of October 1966”, paper presented at the Australian War Memorial History Conference, Canberra, 15 November 1991
"Crime and punishment on Gallipoli: Australian soldiers under British military law", paper presented at the Australian War Memorial History Conference, Canberra, 12 July 1990
"Taming the Diggers: the other face of the ANZAC legend", paper presented at the Australian Historical Association Conference, University of Sydney, 9 February 1988
Contributions to television documentary films
Historical advice and recorded extended interview on the Gallipoli campaign and the experience of visiting Gallipoli for documentary feature, Gallipoli: Brothers in Arms, by Andrew Denton, broadcast on Enough Rope, ABC television, 26 April 2007
Historical adviser, contributed to script development and recorded extensive interview for Foxtel commissioned documentary film, "The battle of Long Tan", by Director Damien Lay, premiered on The History Channel, 16 August 2006
Interview on the battle of Long Tan for feature story, "The forgotten heroes", broadcast Sixty Minutes, Channel Nine, 13 August 2006
Historical adviser, contributed to script development and recorded extensive interview for feature-length documentary film, Gallipoli: the frontline experience, by Director Tolga Örnek, premiered at Australian War Memorial, April 2005
Historical adviser and recorded extensive interview for documentary film, Simpson, the man with the donkey, by Producer-Director Ed Skelding, Granada Television, UK, 2001/02
Historical adviser and recorded extensive interview for documentary feature film, "1918 Remembered: Brothers in Arms", by Chris Masters, Four Corners, ABC Television, 9–10 November 1998
Historical adviser and recorded extensive interview on discipline and punishment among Australian soldiers in the First World War and executions by firing squad, for documentary feature story, "ANZAC tragedies revealed after 80 years", by Ross Coulthart, Sunday, Nine Network, 8 November 1998; updated programme, "ANZAC pardons", broadcast as cover story on Sunday, Nine Network, 13 November 2005
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